TV coverage spreads our message

More good news on the media front. Aside from longer slots with interviews shown on Calendar and Look North last night, we also featured on ITV Tyne Tees news. Management have refused to give any comments to radio and TV, leaving us with a free run at it.

We also featured on the Hold The Front Page website today and at Journalism.co.uk, although the latter article looks at the video journalism angle. In a nutshell, we balloted for industrial action over this issue in December because of a lack of training, a shortage of reporters and there being no extra pay for the new skills. We called off the action after Steve Hughes promised 0.5% of budget towards payments for this. However, in the ongoing pay talks, this changed to become simply "merit money" for the editor to reward who he likes. It seems management are not even intending to spend this money.

Fundamentally, though, this strike is down to low pay and a below-inflation pay offer that we cannot accept.

Strike paper scores scoop

Our strike paper, The Stress, today scored a scoop on the management cobbling together The Press with an exclusive story about the city's football team.

The story concerning former York City captain Manny Panther's prospective move to Exeter City was entirely missed by The Press. But fans could still find out the news thanks to the strike paper, 1,250 of which were handed out yesterday. The Stress is carrying a mixture of news about the strike and exclusive stories readers only available to the dedicated journalists on the picket line. We are set for another three exclusive stories in Saturday's edition.

Joint Father of Chapel, Tony Kelly, said the support for the strike has been brilliant. He said: "We are overwhelmed by the support we have received from the public, councillors and our colleague inside the building. Countless numbers of drivers are responding to our 'Honk for fair pay' placards.

"There was much interest in our stall - more than 1,000 people took leaflets before lunchtime - and our strike paper The Stress, which covers the dispute in depth, was also popular on the picket line. We even managed to secure an exclusive story in the sports pages which The Press had not heard about.

"The weather has been perfect with glorious sunshine. The managing director came out yesterday and tried to dampen our spirits by telling us it would rain but he was wrong.

Power is in chapel's hands

Another hot, sunny day on the York line and more feel-good vibes among the pickets. We started early again at 7.30am and although there were a few tired legs our spirits were high and about 25 union members picketed throughout the day. We were joined by former NUJ regional organiser Miles Barter, from the Manchester Branch, as well as NUJ official Jenny Lennox. They brought their branch's impressive-looking banner, which we raised in front of the building.

Early on Tracey Simpson-Laing, a Labour member of City of York Council, dropped by on her bicycle to give us some chocolate muffins. Shortly after, her colleague and leader of the Labour group, David Scott, visited the picket again to pass on his best wishes.

In mid-morning Alan Hughes, Newsquest York's official chaplain, and vicar at St Deny's Church, a few hundred metres from the offices in Walmgate, wished us well. Although he is unable to take an official line on the dispute, he said he believed the church should take an interest and said he had told management he would not cross the picket line.

Fellow York trade unionists were also out in force today. We were visited by Linda Cartwright, the York PCS Branch secretary; Andy Stainforth, the T&GWU rep for First York buses; and Frank Ormston, a TSSA rep at Network Rail. We also received a call from Paul Clays, the CWU at the city's Royal Mail sorting office. They all said their members and branches are giving us their full support.

Michelle Stanistreet, the NUJ National Executive Committee member for newspapers and also Mother of Chapel at Express newspapers, in London, phoned to send solidarity greetings and to see how we were getting on. Hopefully Michelle will be visiting the picket line on Monday. We were happy to see two members of the Yorkshire Post/Yorkshire Evening Post Joint NUJ Chapel - Mike Cowling and Richard Edwards - on the line. Leeds NUJ members have contributed £750 to our strike fund and we are hugely grateful for their solidarity.

Support from motorists, bus drivers and council workers was again high - with almost constant honking of horns on the street. Friends inside the building have told us all the noise can clearly be heard inside the editorial floor, which one staff member described as "a cross between a cemetery and Sainsbury's at midnight". We're determined to keep on making our point to the bosses inside the building.

During the day we received a chocolate egg from York City Football Club's mascot, Yorkie the Lion, and text messages of support from the following:

• Tim Lezard, Gloucestershire NUJ Branch and South West TUC
• Richard Simcox, NUJ London Press & PR Branch
• Tom Davies, NUJ NEC member and London Freelance Branch
• Richard Edwards, Leeds NUJ Branch
• and NUJ members and supporters in West Yorkshire, York and Leicestershire
  

Our four members dressed in Edwardian garb descended on the city centre once more. On Day 1, they managed to gatecrash the official Lord Mayor's Parade, pictured below. This time they headed for the city's Shambles in search of actor and Sharpe star Sean Bean. He was in town filming for a movie of Robinson Crusoe and we thought we'd try to infiltrate the set and get him to the picket line. No luck so far, but we did get a number of extras on set supporting the strike. We'll keep on trying.

Another great day on the picket line. Everyone had fun, and enjoyed the sun and solidarity. We'll be back again on Saturday, bright and early to continue our campaign for fair pay.

Protest songs on picket line

Our picket-line rocked with pride and passion on the second day of our strike.

Outside the Walmgate offices of The Press and the Gazette & Herald, strikers and members of the public were of one voice thrilled by an al fresco concert by The Press subeditor and NUJ member Richard Foster.

He opened his pavement gig with the self-penned Things I Learnt This Year, written as part of the five-day campaign against a derisory three per cent pay offer from Newsquest (York). Click on the video panel below to see some footage of the performance (apologies for the quality).



As strikers joined in, Fozzy, backed by the Fozettes, had Walmgate jumping, pictured. The concert continued with equal gusto and a flurry of favourite tunes including Redemption Song, Quinn The Eskimo, Snoopy And The Red Baron, Joe Hill and Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, before launching into an even more rousing reprise of his heartfelt strike ballad.

His song was first aired in public at a special folk concert given by star American folk singer Dana Robinson. During the gig at the Black Swan Folk Club, Robinson dedicated a protest song in tribute to the striking journalists and photographers whose newspapers belong to the Newsquest empire, owned by American parent company Gannett, which made $1 billion profit last year. To hear the song in full, log on to our YouTube site here.